Node.js newbie here, Windows 10. I npm install-ed some packages (without -g) while inside a directory that didn't have package.json. npm placed the packages in C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\.
Now I'm seeing some weird behavior:
When I'm in my project directory (has package.json but no node_modules/ yet), npm list and npm list -g both show an empty list
When I'm in a non-project directory (no package.json)...
npm list -g still shows an empty list
However, npm list shows everything in C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\
Question 1. What is going on here? Apparently, npm's default global path should be C:\Users\{MyName}\AppData\Roaming\npm\. If so, why is it using C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\?
Question 2. How do I get out of this mess? Node.js has no problem importing packages from C:\Users\{MyName}\node_modules\, but I want npm to list them properly. How can I delete the semi-global packages, reinstall them correctly, and ensure that this doesn't happen again?
Welp, turns out I've been mistakenly npm install-ing packages without package.json. The first time I did this, I was in my home directory(C:\Users\{MyName}\). This caused npm to create node_modules/ and package-lock.json in the home directory. Further (mistaken) attempts to install packages in my projects--which were still missing package.json--caused npm to traverse upwards, until it found the initial node_modules/ dir, and install everything there. Because my home directory is among the places Node.js looks for modules, I didn't notice my mistake until now. :P
Not sure why it’s doing it, but the way to avoid it is to initialize your project directory using:
npm init
or if you don’t want to answer the questions:
npm init -y
That will setup the directory with the package.json and node_modules will be put there.
Ok, a couple of tips then...
when you install a package that you are going to use in production then add --save, e.g.
npm install --save some-package
this will automatically add the dependency to your package.json. If you are installing a package for use purely in development, e.g. chai, then use--save-devand it will add it to the development dependencies.
Also, git is your friend, even if you are only messing :)
Happy noding :)
For me the solution here was:
Go to c:\users[me]\AppData\Roaming\npm and delete the node_modules folder completely
Make sure I had the package.json file for the project
Delete the project package-lock.json file
Run npm init
Run npm install
Project then worked, not sure why the node_modules got to be in the folder above, ain't got time to find out.
Related
I am a total Javascript newbie aiming to configure my Mac nicely for development.
NPM is installed.
I notice that folder node_modules exists in my Users/MyName directory.
I think this is a result of having either installed Node/NPM or specifically run npm install airtable the other day, which I did at the time in Users/MyName.
When I npm uninstall airtable, it removes airtable and its dependency folders from nodule_modules, leaving the following: #types and package-lock.json (hidden).
If I cd to new project-specific directory Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test and run npm install airtable from there, I expected the packages may get installed in that folder. However, again, they get installed up at Users/MyName/node_modules.
In both cases, .package-lock.json (non-hidden) and package.json are in Users/MyName, which seems messy to me. (I haven't done anything non-standard in install).
Is this the way things should be?
Attempts to solve:
I seem to read, including from questions on Stackoverflow, that storing modules at Users/MyName/node_modules is effectively storing them globally, accessible to any app, and such that projects don't have to get committed to server with all dependencies in tow - the idea being that, after you deploy your app, you then run npm install whilst in its folder, prompting it to install all dependencies.
Is this right? Should I be looking at storing all dependency modules in a project folder, or above and outside of it?
(If the answer to this question is opinion-based, I wasn't aware of that).
Here is what I believe is happening. You have your package.json in folder Users/MyName and you are running npm install in Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test. But the problem is you do not have package.json file in the folder Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test. So npm goes up in the directory to find the package.json and it found it in Users/MyName so it is installing the package there.
This is happening because the way npm identifies a project is by looking for package.json. If it does not find it in current directory than it assumes that you must be inside some sub directory of the project and start searching upwards in the folder hierarchy to find the package.json.
solution
Do npm init in the folder Users/MyName/Projects/Code/myusername/airtable-test. This will initialize the folder as a npm package (by creating package.json).
I have an Electron app that I'm trying to install node modules for. When I run npm install, it creates the node_modules folder but all the modules go into a subfolder called .staging. Each module also has -xxxxx appended to it, where the x's are some random alphanumerics.
Other Electron apps I've created have never done this. All the node modules sit in the root of node_modules and don't have -xxxxx appended.
Any idea why this is happening?
I was also facing the same issue, I tried the steps below:
Delete package-lock.json
Delete Node Modules folder
Try installing it using below command (should be in open network)
npm install
Note: - ".staging" means, those dependencies are getting downloaded so for the temporary basis it keeps all those dependencies under ".staging" folder. Once all gets downloaded properly then it will showcase them under node_modules only.
I hope this will work.
This only happens temporarily until the modules are downloaded and installed. Node seems to do this so it can place together common submodules from all the modules you are installing so it can better structure the node modules folder(mainly for windows users).
If this is happening after an npm install finishes it is likely that there is something wrong with your node installation or something in the install failed.
If you're automatically installing node_modules using CI/CD you should check out npm ci. Also check out this Stackoverflow question.
npm ci
The documentation points out the differences between npm install and npm ci.
The project must have an existing package-lock.json or npm-shrinkwrap.json
If dependencies in the package lock do not match those in package.json, npm ci will exit with an error, instead of updating the package lock.
npm ci can only install entire projects at a time: individual dependencies cannot be added with this command.
If a node_modules is already present, it will be automatically removed before npm ci begins its install. This is nice, because it prevents having to do something like rm -rf node_modules.
It will never write to package.json or any of the package-locks: installs are essentially frozen.
.staging is a temporary npm folder, where the modules are temporarily saved while they are being downloaded, if the package.json downloads are still not completed, the created folder remains, until the installation is complete.
The problem may be lack of space on your hard drive.
I was having 2 versions of node installed on my system.
nodejs v4.2 and node v8.6
I thought this could be conflicting, so I deleted nodejs v4.2 with following commands.
sudo apt-get remove nodejs
and linked the path with
sudo ln -s /usr/bin/node /usr/bin/nodejs
Again I ran npm install and it got fixed
Delete package.lock.json
Delete node_modules
run npm update
This worked for me
I moved the project from C drive to other drive and ran the following commands
take a backup of older node modules if you are running this and existing project
npm cache clean --force
npm update
I faced similar issue and tried the above answers but it did'nt worked for me;
I followed below steps to resolve this issue-
1.npm audit
By running npm audit I got list of pending packages to install-
2.npm i packagename
After installing one or two package one by one from list, I used
3.npm install
At this time the installation went smooth without any lag or hangup. Hope this help who is facing similar issue :).
Sometimes the cache is corrupt and also unremovable.
This fixed the issue I was experiencing.
If you are using nvm
Get the current node version node --version
nvm uninstall (that version)
nvm install (that version)
nvm use
npm install
If you have a windows machine where you do not posses Admin rights to it.
Try deleting node_modules and install using 'npm install' from command line as
'ADMINISTRATOR'
It works!
Anyways, it comes down to an open network thing ;)
It appears that when I run npm link, it will install the project globally, and it seems to install devDependencies with it.
Is there a way to run npm link without devDependencies, perhaps with the --only=production flag?
In npm#4.x or lower
When you run npm link in other_module then you will get both dependencies and devDependencies symlinked.
The --production flag doesn't change anything, still creates a symlink to the whole directory
In npm#5.1.0
They fixed it!
If you remove node_modules and then do npm link --only=production, it runs an install before symlinking, and therefore devDependencies folder are indeed excluded.
This is currently not possible with npm link. The problem is, if you install only prod dependencies in that dependency, you're able to link it, but you're not able to develop on that dependency anymore (since missing devDependencies). And vice-versa: If you install devDependencies, you can't link anymore.
The solution: A package called npm-local-development at https://github.com/marcj/npm-local-development
It basically does the same thing as npm link, but works around the devDependency limitation by setting up a file watcher and syncs file changes automatically in the background, excluding all devDependencies/peerDependencies.
You install npm-local-development: npm i -g npm-local-development
You create file called .links.json in your root package.
You write every package name with its local relative folder path into it like so
{
"#shared/core": "../../my-library-repo/packages/core"
}
Open a console and run npm-local-development in that root package. Let it run in the background.
Disclaimer: I'm the author of this free open-source project.
A workaround I use is npm pack then point to the packed file in the example
I have recently install nvm, node and npm. I cant seem to get the $npm list to list the modules in the node_modules folder. Other npm commands work. npm install -g installs in the correct folder which I can see by cd'ing to it. I cant figure out why one npm command works but the next doesnt. npm config shows cwd as a different folder. Do I have to change that? If so, how do i do that? Thank you.
https://gist.github.com/kaona/0d5ba467cff814dbb1691a083baa1dee
I also tried this but didnt work. I know its something simple im missing. Still new to this. Thanks.
Have you included the modules in your package.json file? The npm list command won't show a module if its not in the package.json, even if its installed in the node_modules directory.
The tree shown is the logical dependency tree, based on package dependencies, not the physical layout of your node_modules folder.
https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/ls
When you install a module into your app, use the --save or --save-dev options to update your package.json. This allows you to install all the dependencies of your application by running npm install. It will also mean that your modules show up when you use the npm list command.
https://docs.npmjs.com/cli/install - For more details
I'm having a problem with npm.
When I install packages they will go to the node_modules folder, but instead of the package assets being in one folder it puts them outside of that folder.
In the express folder, all of the folders in that are supposed to be inside, but instead, they are outside of it. This also happens with other packages I try to install. I have tried creating a test project, but the same thing happened,
And I also tried uninstalling node and npm, and it is still happening.
You sure it's not dependencies?
NPM will install additional packages if you need them, and place them in root of the node_modules folder so that other modules later can use the same if they need them.
After running (edit: npm init first to get package.json in the root of the project) npm install express --save on empty project, I end up with
PS. Apologies if I misused terms, I'm still quiet new to node and npm
I found out what happened it was because of node v5.1.1 that the package folders were saving outside of the express folder once I went back to node v4.2.3 it made a node_modules folder inside the express folder.
Thanks again for everyones help